Two minutes of something like a magic carpet ride, over a fairy tale place where everything is calm and beautiful.

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Jeffrey Martin sez, "I've spentthe summer getting up to speed with quadcopters, floating above the rooftops in the early, early morning in one of Europe's most beautiful cities: here is the result."

Two minutes of something like a magic carpet ride, over a fairy tale place where everything is calm and beautiful. Note that the "real Prague" is a bit overrun by souvenir shops and vacationing Italians and British stag parties at the moment, without much peace or quiet, so this video might give you a better glimpse of this wonderful place, since we went to the trouble of
getting up at 4:30 on all the clear mornings. We'll be making more, and longer, films soon.

For the spec-minded of you, this was shot with DJI Phantom quadcopters and Gopro cameras, including one modified with a 5.4mm lens, mounted on a 3-axis stabilizing gimbal. Shot in 2.7K protune with the colors lovingly massaged later on. Absolute caution was practiced at all times of course.

http://boingboing.net/2014/06/17/sculptures-made-from-repeating.html/feed0Unsettling, playful accessories from Klára Pernicováhttp://boingboing.net/2014/05/07/unsettling-playful-accessorie.html
http://boingboing.net/2014/05/07/unsettling-playful-accessorie.html#commentsThu, 08 May 2014 05:00:58 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=301448
Czech artist Klára Pernicová has created a series of "unsettling" accessories, like human ear hair-clips, zit piercing jewelry and slug-and-snail headphones that are fabulously grody without being actually terrible, and manage to be playful at the same time.]]>
Czech artist Klára Pernicová has created a series of "unsettling" accessories, like human ear hair-clips, zit piercing jewelry and slug-and-snail headphones that are fabulously grody without being actually terrible, and manage to be playful at the same time. Those ear-clips are really something, and work as a kind of dazzle-camou for my brain, which keeps trying to redraw the face below them to make sense of them.

Jeffrey Martin of the 360 Cities panorama site sez, "Sphericam is my new invention. It is a dedicated 360º video with GPS and live streaming capabilities.

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Jeffrey Martin of the 360 Cities panorama site sez, "Sphericam is my new invention. It is a dedicated 360º video with GPS and live streaming capabilities. Inspired by cameras that are an order of magnitude more expensive, I wanted to build something that any enthusiast could afford.
It has four cameras with fisheye lenses, connected to a device which records synchronized video from all four cameras onto a single memory card or USB stick.
I want 360º video to become mainstream. Did you ever wish you could just stick your camera in the middle of the action, and capture everything at the same time? Now you can. I'm teaming up with Shaddack one of the Czech Republic's most talented electrical engineers. We're ready for you!"

The cameras start at $600 for the first 20, then 99 at $900, and up from there (assuming, always, that they make it to production -- caveat emptor!). Jeffrey and co have built an impressive team and have a good-looking roadmap on the Kickstarter page, too.

http://boingboing.net/2012/12/13/kickstarting-a-360-streaming.html/feed27Inadvertent art-photos of the Soviet-era Czech secret policehttp://boingboing.net/2012/04/22/inadvertent-art-photos-of-the.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/04/22/inadvertent-art-photos-of-the.html#commentsMon, 23 Apr 2012 01:30:42 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=155932
In 2010, Vice Magazine commemorated the publication of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes' "Prague Through the Lens of the Secret Police" with a set of photos taken by the Soviet-era Czech secret police.]]>
In 2010, Vice Magazine commemorated the publication of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes' "Prague Through the Lens of the Secret Police" with a set of photos taken by the Soviet-era Czech secret police. As noted, these photos, shot blindly with hidden cameras, are actually pretty good art-photography.

They were spying full-time on average citizens, hoping to catch them in a situation that could lead to a swift arrest and a lengthy incarceration in some dank, hidden cell. With their cameras secreted in a suitcase or under a coat, the agents had no idea what was being captured while they were taking these pictures. Their negatives, in which one finds brilliant snatches of street life from a time that few outsiders were able to see, are full of unexpected gems. Total art from a bunch of Communist lackeys and thugs. Who would have thunk it?